Ge Xifeng's Last Voyage, October 7th, 1016
We had left Huándao some time ago, I can’t remember for sure. We had drifted between the northern provinces, father doing his best to keep our spirits up with false promises. We sold all of mother’s porcelain, all of Pei’s books… her favorites, the leather-bound stories of Falfir and the heroics of the Redeemed One and her followers, all gone. My cat, Shu-shu, was sold to day laborers from western Lao. I miss Shu-shu. “Xifeng,” my sister Peijing called, “have you eaten?” “Yes,” I lied. I wasn’t hungry. The beating sun had robbed me of any appetite; all we had to eat anyways was dried, salted fish and rotting fruit. Let the flies have it, they seem to be enjoying them well enough. “Xifeng, stop it,” my sister said, vaulting down from the rocking wagon to saunter beside my camel. Though she was older, she knew I enjoyed the swaying motion of the camel’s back, so she let me ride upon its majestic saddle. I did not protest; by the gods I loved camels. “Stop what?” I said, not looking in her direction. “Pouting,” she retorted, “the only thing you have done since we left Lao.” She slowly raised a slice of dried meat to my face, wiggling it about my lips in an attempt to make me nibble. “We shouldn’t have left, sister. There’s nothing out here.” “Hush,” Pei said, setting a hand upon my dangling leg as she walked beside me. “Father will get mad if you talk like that.” I scowled as vividly as my face could manage. “Good.” She sighed, dropping the fish into my pack atop the camel and hopping back towards the wagon. “We will be setting up camp soon, we should talk then. You haven’t been yourself lately.” I didn’t speak. Rather, my camel rumbled a guttural moan, burping out some of its distaste with the weather. I nodded affirmation. “I agree, Shu-Xīn, the sun is too bloody hot for this.” Pei laughed, “just promise me you won’t let this change you. Father is doing all he can to make amends. We can start over, we can be like a true family again, and mother won’t have to work the fields anymore. They say Lancerus doesn’t even have rice fields, can you imagine?” I had stopped listening. Something off in the distance had stolen me away from my sister’s rambling. Across the winding dunes, upon the setting of a rocky hill… Had something moved? ……… We called it the Barren Sea. It was what separated Lao and the rest of Kyoni from the west. There it had another name, one I felt applied more appropriately to its personality: the Wastes. The fire was dying down as I ate the last of the dried fish. I had wrapped myself in a large, musty shawl and crawled closer to the embers. I pretended I was a silkworm. I looked at the fire like my sensual lover. “Boil me and eat my body,” I said to the fire, wriggling about like a helpless pupa. “Consumed,” the fire replied. I shot up, the shawl dropping away like wings. I looked at the embers with primal fear and almost embarrassment. They seemed the ordinary sort. I peered around, hoping to find some nearby onlooker to pin my superstitions on. Not a soul for 30 yards, as I was the only one that had lingered here past dark. “Mok Bao,” a soldier cried out above the darkening sky. I turned and, straining against the dimness of midnight, caught the silhouette of our hired muscle convening some distance away from the caravan. With one last glance at the dying fire I moved towards them. Mok Bao was the name of the leader of the mercenary company we had hired to escort us through the Barren Sea. He appeared now, the tallest of the men, surveying something beyond my view. I moved closer. Using my shawl as a cloak to shield me from view, I found an outcropping of rock from which to satiate my curiosity. I was close enough to hear their quarrel. “Was it one of ours?” The thinner soldier said. “No,” Bao replied, “all heads are accounted for. Gazhang and Ming-Hua are in their tent, the cute one is in the wagon and the short one is asleep by the fire.” Short one? Really? I could not see what the men were standing around, though clearly it could not have been good. They all seemed as if they had seen a spirit; white and awash with uncertainty. Much like me some moments ago. A terrible screech ripped through the sky. Warbles of the deathrattles of camels followed soon after. It was a gruesome assault on the ears. The mercenaries pulled their daos from their wastes and rushed to the perceived source of the noise. I sprinted after them as fast as my legs could carry me. We were met with the sight of Shu-Xīn, and all the other camels, spread like seeds across the earth. The sand was crisp under their fresh, heated blood. Slabs of hewn animal carcass decorated more of the campsite than I thought possible. I realized I was standing in the remains of one of our beasts, the entrails of a fresh kill oozing under my heel. The gore was too much. I blacked out. ……… We pressed on. Without the camels, we had no way to carry our belongings other than what we muscled upon our backs. We could not pull the wagon either, as it had only been fitted for use by the camels we had lost and was far too heavy. We could not wait for help. No help would come. On the third day after the mysterious death of our camels, we had already run out of ill-rationed food. Mok Bao brought us all together under the merciful shade of a lone desert tree and let us catch our breath from the beating sun. My father, mother and sister all huddled together. I sat alone, not wishing to share the air with my wretched father. He looked at me now, a stranger in the desert wind. “This is your fault,” I said under my breath. My father shifted, his neck craned at me in stunned curiosity. “What did you say?” “You heard me, Gazhang,” I said louder, using his first name to show how little respect I had for him. “We had a life, a good life.” “It was not good,” Peijing interjected. “Mother and I worked every day under the boot of Ung Duyi and his bloodkin. Father brought us a way out when he returned.” My father still said nothing. His wrinkled face only observed. Mok Bao and his soldiers did the same, preferring to let this happy family of ours sort out its problems. “He did no such thing,” I said, turning my anger now to my sister. “That pendant on his collar, do you know what that is from?” Pei contorted her face in rage. “Girls, please,” my mother said. I whirled on to her now, throwing my fear and apathy into her face. “You’re no better, taking this thief back into your life without any consideration as to the ramifications. Did you not wonder where all his newfound wealth came from, after being gone for so many years? Did you not think that the Jade Lions would come looking for him?” My father stood now, his curiosity subdued by anger. “Enough, child, you are out of line.” I stood too, my hands quivering from hunger and heat exhaustion. “You are the one who is out of line. You stole my family from me and led us into this death march to our graves!” He struck me. My sister and mother watched. He struck me again. And again. Soon it became clear that my punishment was evolving into his release of frustration. Gazhang struck me in my face, my cheekbones, my neck, and my wrists. He wanted me to feel pain. “You are a disgrace to the Ge family! May Ruukina rip out your tongue for your insolence!” The ground beneath his feet opened up, like the mouth of a great earthen turtle. The sand roiled and burped as my father disappeared from view with not even time to scream. We ran from the scene, each of us foregoing common sense or the willingness to stay together. I could hear something behind me, something crawling out of the sand and laying low Mok Bao and his company. They sounded like the camels did. ……… I’m alone, now. Pei is gone, Gazhang and mother, and all the soldiers. I watched something come out of the ground and devour them, like crickets afore the water dragon. The beast was clad in rusted maille and carried with it… cleavers? Poised atop its crowned head was fire and it had the body of a desert scorpion. I’m too numb to be sad, too tired to be afraid. I found myself an oasis of shade but there is no food or water here. Besides, whatever murdered my family and decorated its body in their corpses… well, it knows where I am. It won’t be long now. Category:Character lore